Daily News

France – No recovery in sight for the staffing market

29 July 2013

Despite French President François Holland’s recent statement that the recovery was finally in sight, the French staffing industry continued to deteriorate in June 2013, with all major sectors still recording a decline in the number of temporary workers. The French staffing association Prisme Emploi released figures last Friday revealing an -11.2% fall in the number of temporary workers for June 2013, compared with the same period last year. Furthermore, for the first semester the fall amounted to -12.8%, compared with the same period last year.

The biggest declines were recorded in the Retail (-13.2%) and Services sectors (-12.5%); followed by the Industrial sector (-11.4%) and Construction (-10.2%). The transport sector fared slightly better with a -8% decline, compared with June 2012. Temporary workers in the Industrial sector accounted for 50.9% of all temporary agency workers, according to the association.

The category of workers that suffer the most was managers and skilled professionals (-15.8%), followed by unskilled blue-collar workers (-13.2%), white-collar employees (-11.87%), and skilled blue-collar workers (-10.4%).

Across France, the biggest regional declines in temporary employment were recorded in June 2013 were in Alsace (-18.6%), Nord-Pas-de-Calais (-16.6%), and Bretagne (-15%).

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